His Name Was King (1971)

The Worst Film Ever

The first must-see film of the year.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Don't be fooled by that top billing Klaus Kinski here! He's 'doing a Kinski', which is a term I made up for a top name actor who turns up on a film set, films a few scenes, then goes off to the pub with the cash. Kinski appears to be slightly more involved in the action here, but he's not around much. Better examples of him 'doing a kinski' are Footprints on the Moon, Fighting Fists of Shanghai Joe and If You Meet Sartana, Pray For Death (really badly spliced Klaus footage in that one). You could also call it 'doing a Palance' as Jack does the same thing in The Happy and Short Life of the Brothers Blue and It Can Be Done Amigo. And John Ireland in 'Run Man Run'.No, the real star of the show here is Richard Harrison (and his moustache), now I was as surprised as anyone to find out Harrison (and his tache) had a career outside of the multi-Oscar winning Ninja Terminator, the much lauded Golden Ninja Warrior (first five minutes) and the awesome Majestic Thunderbolt (which of course led to a children's animated series), but here he is! He's a called King and some bad dudes smuggling machines guns to the Mexicans have gone and killed his brother. Granted, King killed one of them first, but…I dunno.So King's out to get vengeance, supported by his pal Kinski, who basically stays in one place throughout the film and doesn't interact much with Harrison. Harrison however goes around getting into various gun fights with the baddies, getting captured and such like. There's a distinct misogynist tone to this film with two rapes and the Mexicans pimping out their sisters to the bad guys.Harrison ain't much of an actor. In fact, I've barely seen him do more than raise his eyebrows, but he is a good action star so it's fun to watch him taking on all these bad guys. He doesn't chase after a guy and brain him with a baseball bat while wearing roller skates like Majestic Thunderbolt, but you can't have it all.Short film too!

After his brother is murdered and sister-in-law raped on their wedding day by sadistic cutthroats, bounty hunter/lawman Richard Harrison seeks revenge. He soon finds out that things aren't always what they seem though.Uninspired writing and directing, along with a terminally low budget, sinks this before it even really gets started, making it not worth recommending, except for maybe the hardest of the hardcore spaghetti western buffs. A miscast Klaus Kinski is for the most part wasted.Being fairly non-offensive and very short, this seems almost like a cheap, 1970's TV movie.

I'm a spaghetti western fanatic, enough so that even lesser efforts in the genre entertain me. However, with this particular spaghetti western I find it hard to generate much enthusiasm, so I can only imagine what a non-fanatic might think of this movie. It has a somewhat confusing plot, with characters doing things that often seem murky. Harrison's character is an unexceptional hero, and several times is off-screen for long periods of time. Kinski's character ends up being bizarre due to Kinski acting completely different from what his character says or does at the same time. That does give the movie some moments of (unintended) humor. The movie does have some good action sequences and has a good musical score, especially the title song, which is one of the best ever composed for a spaghetti western. But in the end, you'll forget most of the movie not long after watching it, so I would only recommend it if you are really into Euro westerns (and Klaus Kinski).

His Name was King (1971) This movie with a great title but lacked an overall deliverance to the audience. Richard Harrison and Klaus Kinski were very good acting wise even though the latter was only 5 minutes of acting, which I clocked it at.Harrison who plays John "King" Marley who's brother was murdered and his wife Carol was beaten and raped. Of course King is looking on revenge and the culprits are the Benson Gang who is secretly lead by King's friend Sheriff Foster(Kinski)who are running guns illegally. Well King wipes out the Benson gang and has a great showdown with ex-friend Sheriff Foster. The soundtrack in the movie was very weak shocking from the great Luis Bacalov. Soundtracks for Spaghetti Westerns are a key in sometimes saving face especially if the story is dull or the acting is bad. I do however recommend the movie for Kinski fans!